An automatic parking guidance system will be deployed in an ‘underwater’ parking lot that is being built in Copenhagen. The EUR80m (US$90m) ‘Kvaesthus urban space’ project is taking shape in the Danish capital, and will be finished later this year. Located facing Copenhagen’s harbor and close to the Royal Danish Theatre, an unsightly wasteland will turn into a 3.7-acre (15,000 square meter) large pier with a wooden floor that is intended for events of all kinds. Below this, and beneath the harbor’s water level, an underground parking lot will accommodate more than 500 cars, on a total of three levels. The new parking facility has not only been built for visitors to the new Kvaesthus Pier, but the additional places will also improve the quantity and availability of parking in Copenhagen’s city center, where spaces are scarce expensive.
Due to the innovative traffic control technology that is being installed by the German company, MSR-Traffic, visitors to the Kvaesthus site will be guided from the entrance directly to the nearest available parking place. The system has been designed, not only to aid the drivers searching for a vacant space and reduce the traffic in the underground parking lot, but also saves a lot of time, while also lowering ventilation costs for the complex. The technology will also contribute to the sustainability and energy efficiency of the parking facility.
MSR will be installing its PU-02-4 ultrasonic sensors in 510 parking spaces, which register the availability of every single parking bay and process the information using the company’s ParkGard back office controller and central PC-based system. The parking lot occupancy data are visualized and indicated on dynamic LED message displays installed on every car park level and at the main entrance. The PU-02-4 units combine an ultrasonic sensor with an integrated red/green LED luminaire, which indicates vehicle occupancy. The units feature: a long lifetime; high detection accuracy; no additional maintenance costs; and a sensor and status LED in one discrete housing.
